Hardware in Tournaments

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When reporting Computer Chess events in the media should hardware details be given? This is not the same question that has been asked in the past about should any hardware be allowed.

Poll ended at Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:24 pm

Yes
34
97%
No
1
3%
 
Total votes: 35

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Harvey Williamson
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Hardware in Tournaments

Post by Harvey Williamson »

There is the age old discussion about what hardware should be allowed in tournaments. I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used. This is not a poll about should any hardware be allowed but about if when reporting the event that hardware details should be listed.
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Watchman
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by Watchman »

Harvey Williamson wrote:I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used.
Well for this gentleman to be correct... the Yes votes need to stop now and he needs 35,000 No Votes.

( :shock: and :lol: btw )
Highendman
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Post by Highendman »

While I might not reflect 'the general population' then again I'm not sure how much that general population cares about computer-chess?

I find the h/w details *very* interesting, as they help assess if I could get similar results @ home or not.
Carl Bicknell
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Post by Carl Bicknell »

Highendman wrote:While I might not reflect 'the general population' then again I'm not sure how much that general population cares about computer-chess?

I find the h/w details *very* interesting, as they help assess if I could get similar results @ home or not.
There's a difference between what hardware should be ALLOWED (was that what the organiser was hinting at?) and whether people are interested in hardware specs. I am interested in the specs, but I don't believe that should then be used to try and ban hardware over a certain spec (i.e. Clusters)
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Harvey Williamson
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Post by Harvey Williamson »

Carl Bicknell wrote:
Highendman wrote:While I might not reflect 'the general population' then again I'm not sure how much that general population cares about computer-chess?

I find the h/w details *very* interesting, as they help assess if I could get similar results @ home or not.
There's a difference between what hardware should be ALLOWED (was that what the organiser was hinting at?) and whether people are interested in hardware specs. I am interested in the specs, but I don't believe that should then be used to try and ban hardware over a certain spec (i.e. Clusters)
All this is about is that the press release about the event did not mention any hardware, nothing else.
Carl Bicknell
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Post by Carl Bicknell »

Harvey Williamson wrote:
Carl Bicknell wrote:
Highendman wrote:While I might not reflect 'the general population' then again I'm not sure how much that general population cares about computer-chess?

I find the h/w details *very* interesting, as they help assess if I could get similar results @ home or not.
There's a difference between what hardware should be ALLOWED (was that what the organiser was hinting at?) and whether people are interested in hardware specs. I am interested in the specs, but I don't believe that should then be used to try and ban hardware over a certain spec (i.e. Clusters)
All this is about is that the press release about the event did not mention any hardware, nothing else.
OK, then I agree, hardware is important and its details should be published.
sidserious
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by sidserious »

... I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used...

Where be dis cat gittin' his info'mashun fum. What it is, Mama!

Dat cat needs t'step back and dig himself. S coo', bro'.
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Harvey Williamson
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by Harvey Williamson »

sidserious wrote:
... I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used...

Where be dis cat gittin' his info'mashun fum. What it is, Mama!

Dat cat needs t'step back and dig himself. S coo', bro'.
LOL Robert nice to see you back here again!!
sidserious
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by sidserious »

Harvey Williamson wrote:
sidserious wrote:
... I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used...

Where be dis cat gittin' his info'mashun fum. What it is, Mama!

Dat cat needs t'step back and dig himself. S coo', bro'.
LOL Robert nice to see you back here again!!

It be mah' pleasho' nuff!
gerold
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by gerold »

Harvey Williamson wrote:There is the age old discussion about what hardware should be allowed in tournaments. I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used. This is not a poll about should any hardware be allowed but about if when reporting the event that hardware details should be listed.
Yes . One of the most interesting things about these tournaments is the
hardware.

Best,
Gerold.
thierrycatalan
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Evidence !

Post by thierrycatalan »

it seems to me evidence that a comparaison or tournament between chess engines must be made on similar hardware ...

for example i can say :

fritz 5.32 is better than fritz 12.... !!!!

( if i don't say that fritz 5.32 is on a quad 6600 with 3go ram , and fritz 12 on a pentium 2 with 128 MMo of ram ....)
HPC
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by HPC »

The people in the local chess clubs pay attention to the hardware except for the ones very new to computer chess.

Then, there are some that think all programs are the same and the only difference is hardware. Debating with them is almost as bad as pulling teeth.
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Monsieur Plastique
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Post by Monsieur Plastique »

Maybe having been involved in computer chess since the early dedicated days I am completely missing the point here, but so far as I concerned, if the harware used is not reported then they might as well allow Olympic weight lifters to take copious amounts of steroids and not have to take urine tests.

How on earth can anyone judge how strong an actual engine is relative to another if we don'tknow the hardware they are running on?

Are we saying for example, that Rykba was running on superior hardware to HIARCS, or are we simply saying they were all running on the same hardware but just that we weren't told what that hardware was?
Chess is like painting the Mona Lisa whilst walking through a minefield.
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Terry McCracken
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Re: Hardware in Tournaments

Post by Terry McCracken »

Harvey Williamson wrote:There is the age old discussion about what hardware should be allowed in tournaments. I have been told by one of the organisers of the Leiden tournament that 99.98% of people do not care what hardware is used. This is not a poll about should any hardware be allowed but about if when reporting the event that hardware details should be listed.
Yes, it puts in perspective.
Terry McCracken
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Watchman
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Post by Watchman »

Monsieur Plastique wrote:Are we saying for example, that Rykba was running on superior hardware to HIARCS, or are we simply saying they were all running on the same hardware but just that we weren't told what that hardware was?
What was explained... Apparently Hardware is irrelevant for the casual reader of a chess web site... for a person who would be interested in reading about Leiden ICT10, it would be because their engine participated in that tourney or there is a casual interest in engine chess. There would be no interest in the Hardware it used to achieve the title.

But would not an individual wish to know the version they have installed is a completely different version than the one which won the Tournament?

Would they not wish to know that for the price of the Hardware required to run this version (assuming first this version was available to them, which it is not) just as it ran at the Tournament (on such hardware they most likely could not assemble)... for a similar price they could find themselves in an E-Class Mercedes?

I could be wrong of course, but I think the above two paragraphs would be newsworthy items (ok drop the Mercedes comparison but keep the price) to anyone interested in actually reading about ICT10.
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